The National
Benzor
Posts: 886
There is a ton of love for this band around here and they have a new album on the way so I thought they deserved a thread of their own. New album, "High Violet" is due out May 11 but hopefully it will leek sometime in the near future. 'Alligator' and 'Boxer' are two of the best albums of the past 10 years so my expectations for 'High Violet' are extremely high.
Here are two of the new songs from 'High Violet'.
"Terrible Love" on Jimmy Fallon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GdlsaQH6ao
"Bloodbuzz Ohio", the albums first single
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBGaIMQcyvQ
Here are two of the new songs from 'High Violet'.
"Terrible Love" on Jimmy Fallon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GdlsaQH6ao
"Bloodbuzz Ohio", the albums first single
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBGaIMQcyvQ
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I don't "feel" too many bands, but they are a definite exception.
The haunting vocals allow me to vividly picture the lyrical scenarios in my mind.
As with all The National discussions, one must pose the eternal question: Boxer or Alligator? I intensely love both and change my mind on a weekly basis.
i think i have told this story before, but in 2007, a ton of indie heavyweights released albums, arcade fire, radiohead, bloc party, the shins, bright eyes etc..
and paste picked boxer as album of the year. at first i was upset, because, who the hell is the national? but i eventually came around.
boxer pretty much is symbolic of the last 5 years of my life, my twenties. the songs speak to someone who is caught in some dead end soulless job and longs for more.
so many great lines-"showered and blue blazered,fill yourself with quarters", "another uninnocent elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults". "underline everything i'm a professional in my beloved white shirt, i'm going down among the saints" "youre pink, youre young youre middle class, they say it doesnt matter, 15 blue shirts and womanly hands, youre shooting up the ladder, youre mind is racing like a pro now, oh my god it doesnt mean alot to you, one time you were a glowing your ruffian oh my god it was a million years ago. sometimes you get up and bake a cake or something, sometimes you stay in bed...".
These songs are about a person, so lost, so confused, so burnt out by their job, that the imagery of it all, the violence of it all, the ennui just leaps off the lyric sheet. you can tell these guys were springsteen fans, but where bruce sings songs about blue collar, down and out workers, the national have songs about white collar workers, these people are successful, they put on the airs of being confident and happy, but inside they are wasting away, their job is killing them.
high violet may be the most anticipated album of the year. i have huge hopes for it. can a band possibly top boxer?
We miss being ruffians, glowing wild and bright
in the corners of front yards
getting in and out of cars
we miss being deviants
-
jesus, what a stanza that is. wow.
Boxer was in my top 5 of the past decade.
Charlotte 03
Asheville 04
Atlanta 12
Greenville 16, Columbia 16
Seattle 18
Nashville 22
Ohana Festival 24 x2
"Hey, if God didn’t want me to wear it so much, he wouldn’t have made them rock so hard."
Every so often there is a thread dedicated to these guys that eventually fades away....
'Bloodbuzz Ohio' is superb...
'The Runaway' I'm digging as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjskJAKeJdM
June 16th at Radio City!!
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I'm very, very frightening
and I'll overdo it'
ditto....i will have to give boxer more of a chance, seems to be a fav.
i have HUGE love for alligator though, The National is a wonderful band. Saw them open for REM and they didnt dissapoint. cant wait to see them again and May 11th. thanks for the info..
lit up
abel
all the wine
unbelievable songs.